Sent to the ST Editor on 10 Aug 2009. As I expected of our mainstream media, it didnt get published.
Safety of Swine Flu vaccine remains unclear
I refer to the article “Pandemic flu vaccines are safe, says WHO” (7 August).
It is disturbing that mass vaccinations are being discussed when the public does not have adequate information about the swine flu vaccine.
In the Recommendations on pandemic (H1N1) 2009 vaccines (13 July), the WHO reports that the pandemic vaccines “have not yet been extensively evaluated for their safety in certain population groups [and thus], it is very important to implement post-marketing surveillance of the highest possible quality”.
For instance, a substance called squalene designed to intensify vaccine effects to be used in swine flu vaccines, provoked “chronic, immune-mediated joint-specific inflammation” in mice according to a 2000 study published in the American Journal of Pathology.
During the first Gulf War, squalene was an unapproved ingredient in an anthrax vaccine that has since been linked to the Gulf War Syndrome suffered by many veterans.
In 1976, in response to a supposed Swine Flu pandemic, the US Government began mass vaccinations which resulted in a spike in a neurological disorder known as Guillain-Barré syndrome. Not only did it cause severe paralysis in thousands of people, but in some cases, death.
In fact, there is little correlation between disease decline and vaccination given that the decline in infectious disease has more to do with improvements in hygiene and diet practices than to do with mass vaccinations.
On another note, it is astonishing why the WHO has tasked Baxter International with the task of producing a Swine Flu vaccine when it ‘accidentally’ shipped 72 kilograms of bird flu vaccine contaminated with the live wild type H5N1 bird flu virus between Dec 2008 and Feb 2009 to 16 different laboratories in 4 European countries. It is unsettling that such negligence has gone unaccountable.
One should also wonder whether there may be a conflict of interest given that the WHO has refused to release the minutes of a July 7 meeting between WHO officials and executives from Baxter, Novartis and Sanofi.
In the face of these facts and more, I urge the Ministry of Health to carefully examine the consequences of using the swine flu vaccines, in fact any vaccines, and to be transparent about all possible information regarding its manufacturing process, safety and effects on humans in keeping with the Nuremburg Code.